Blog & New Postings

Month November 2015

Investigations into the efficacy of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step programs have advanced from what was once little more than popular and clinical folklore. Scientific studies have progressed through the stage of weak methodological designs to quite sophisticated studies measuring both the effects of 12-Step mutual aid participation on long-term recovery outcomes and the most(……)

Throughout the history of addiction in America, family members have been castigated more as causative agents and sources of recovery sabotage than as recovery resources or individuals deserving services in their own right. Given this history, it is not surprising that family members have most often found healing and purpose when they banded together for(……)

Addiction is as much a worldwide geopolitical threat as it is a public health threat. So-called recreational drug use, addiction, aggressive licit and illicit drug trafficking, and the unintended consequences of national and international drug control policies have deeply wounded the cultural, economic, and political fabric of numerous countries and strained international relations. Don Winslow(……)

In past communications, I have energetically objected to the marketing slogan “Treatment Works!” Professionally-directed addiction treatment of complex disorders generates highly variable outcomes that defy such simplistic claims. So what can be said of such outcomes? Whether we are talking about widely varying approaches to addiction treatment; participation in a secular, spiritual, or religious recovery mutual(……)